Ukraine wants to receive not only MiG-29s from Poland in exchange for drones

In addition to the Polish MiG-29s, Ukraine wants to receive additional equipment and equipment for aircraft maintenance in exchange for the supply of drones.

This was reported by the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine in response to a request from "Military".

According to the department, negotiations are currently underway between Poland and Ukraine on the possible transfer of aviation equipment for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

They also reported that the Armed Forces of Ukraine are interested in receiving, in addition to aircraft, additional equipment and devices for technical maintenance of aviation equipment and relevant repair and operational documentation.

In exchange for the aircraft, the Polish side wants to receive various Ukrainian-made unmanned systems.

In addition, the department confirmed that in the fall of 2025, representatives of the Armed Forces of Ukraine conducted a technical inspection of a certain number of the specified aircraft.

What preceded

In December 2025, Poland began talking about transferring MiGs to Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelensky then noted that Ukraine needed MiG-29 aircraft, because Ukrainian pilots already had experience flying them and “the issue is not a shortage of aircraft, but a shortage of pilots”.

The Polish General Staff noted that these aircraft would be decommissioned and replaced with F-16 and FA-50 fighters. On December 14, Poland’s Deputy Defense Minister Cezary Tomczyk said that this involved 6–8 aircraft out of 14 available in Poland.

In February 2026, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk reported a new, 48th aid package for Ukraine. It included MiG-29 fighter jets.

However, in May, relations between the countries deteriorated sharply after Zelensky signed a decree awarding the Separate Special Operations Center "North" of the Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine the honorary title "named after the Heroes of UPA".

And in June, Poland’s Deputy Defense Minister Pawel Zalewski said that Ukraine was not interested in receiving MiG-29s from the country. Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysh said that he had offered Ukraine “MiGs in exchange for drones”, but then Kyiv allegedly refused to share the technology. After that, Poland decided to write off the fighters that it planned to transfer to Ukraine.

However, in July, Poland declared that it had resumed negotiations with Ukraine on the transfer of the MiG-29s.

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